Rank risks a punt on reviving Mecca

Beleaguered bingo operator Rank is to revive the Mecca Bookmakers brand in an attempt to turn its fortunes round.

By law, Mecca Bookmakers must be run separately from Rank's bingo operation but will be placed in separate rooms inside bingo halls or on adjacent sites.

Rank hopes the shops will prove attractive to women, a market that rivals Ladbrokes and William Hill have always found difficult to win over.

Rank will also bring back into service almost 1,000 fruit machines that it was forced to remove from bingo halls under new gaming laws last year. The machines will be sited in the bookmakers shops.

The loss of revenue from the machines led to a 19% drop in sales and a profits warning.

• Ladbrokes is preparing plans for a multi-million pound bid for Turkey's national lottery when the Ankara government puts it out to tender later this year. If Ladbrokes is successful, the deal could boost sales by £37m a year.